BEIJING, Aug 12: A British boxer accused Olympic judges of favoring his Chinese opponent on Tuesday, a few hours after the Ukrainian team lost its protest of a decision in its fighter’s loss to another Chinese boxer.

British bantamweight Joe Murray left the ring incensed after his 17-7 opening-round loss to China’s Gu Yu. Murray beat Gu at the world championships in Chicago last fall, but fell behind early and never caught up at Workers’ Gymnasium.

“I thought it should have been a lot closer after the first round,” said Murray, who trailed 4-0 after the first two minutes.

“I think the score was bad. I think they were giving him a score for anything, and I had to work to get all of my points. I knew going in that the only way I could win this fight is don’t let him hit me.”

British coach Terry Edwards echoed his fighter’s complaints, calling the scores “absolutely stupid.”

“The judges took it away from him,” Edwards said of the early rounds, when the score deficit forced Murray to change his style. “I’m not saying he won, but when you’re chasing the bout, you do things you’re not comfortable with.”

AIBA spokesman Richard Baker confirmed the Ukrainian team filed a protest over lightweight Oleksandr Klyuchko’s 10-8 loss to Hu Qing on Monday night. The protest was reviewed and denied, Baker said.

“I thought the Chinese opponent was not very good,” said Klyuchko, who beat Hu 26-13 at last year’s world championships. “I’m very sad. I thought I would be the winner. I already beat him once before.”

Judging row is as synonymous with amateur boxing as headgear. The sport’s points-based punch scoring lends itself to wide interpretation, and Olympic history is full of loud protests over boxing results both before and after the sport switched to a computer scoring system in 1992 to make the results more transparent.

But the new complaints at the sport’s biggest event could cast doubt on its progress over the last 18 months, when a slate of remarkable reforms in the international boxing association seemed to begin a cleanup of the sport.

Computer scoring was introduced at the Olympics four years after American Roy Jones Jr. lost the championship bout in Seoul to South Korea’s Park Si-hun, a decision still considered one of the great travesties in Olympic history.—AP

Opinion

Editorial

Confused state
Updated 05 Jan, 2025

Confused state

WHEN it comes to combatting violent terrorism, the state’s efforts seem to be suffering from a lack of focus. The...
Born into hunger
05 Jan, 2025

Born into hunger

OVER 18.2 million children — 35 every minute — were born into hunger in 2024, with Pakistan accounting for 1.4m...
Tourism triumph
05 Jan, 2025

Tourism triumph

THE inclusion of Gilgit-Baltistan in CNN’s list of top 25 destinations to visit in 2025 is a proud moment for...
Falling temperatures
Updated 04 Jan, 2025

Falling temperatures

Vitally important for stakeholders to acknowledge, understand politicians can still challenge opposing parties’ narratives without also being in a constant state of war with each other.
Agriculture census
04 Jan, 2025

Agriculture census

ACCURATE information relating to agricultural activities is vital for data-driven future planning, policymaking, as...
Biometrics for kids
04 Jan, 2025

Biometrics for kids

ALTHOUGH the move has caused a panic among weary parents mortified at the thought of carting their children to Nadra...